Two Native American organizations will host their first-ever Youth Gathering of Native Americans event in Omaha next month.
The Nebraska Urban Indian Health Coalition is partnering with the Ponca Health Services Behavioral Health Program to reach Native American youths and provide cultural enrichment and positive mental health practices. The event is Sept. 5-6.
Lestina Saul, program director for the NUIHC, said the program’s goal is to help fight the community’s internal issues of addiction and high suicide rates. She said she hopes the event equips youths ages 12-19 with positive coping strategies and surrounds them with the historical and current culture of their communities.
“It’s a wonderful event in an urban setting that can help, not just youth, but everybody to learn how to have that healthy cultural pride, that healthy self-esteem and that healthy sense of identity and development,” Saul said.
A gathering of Native Americans, or GONA, is a normal occurrence where members of different tribes across the United States present a variety of topics relevant to the community, according to Saul, who said traditional medicine, foods, celebrations, and how to incorporate these aspects into daily lives are a part of a GONA presentation.
“What the Ponca tribe did was gather people that are doing the work in the community, working with youth or families,” she said. “They asked us all to present on a culturally relevant topic that is going to help youth to develop positive coping skills, a healthy self-image, and to give them that feeling of identity and belonging that many of our urban native youth lack.”
More information for the event is on the Ponca Health Services Facebook page. The deadline to register for the event is Aug. 27.
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